Thomas Jefferson's letter to the Senate and House of Representatives from the National Archives
Poster from the National Archives
Primary sources are the evidence left behind by participants or observers.
Diaries, journals, speeches, interviews, letters, memos, manuscripts and other papers in which individuals describe events in which they were participants or observers
Memoirs
Autobiographies
Records of organizations and agencies of government
Published materials written at the time of the event
Photographs
Audio recordings,
Moving pictures, video recordings documenting what happened
Artifacts
Secondary sources are works that interpret or analyze an historical event. Examples of secondary sources include textbooks and encyclopedias.
Primary sources provide a window into the past—unfiltered access to the record of artistic, social, scientific and political thought and achievement during the specific period under study, produced by people who lived during that period.
Bringing young people into close contact with these unique, often profoundly personal, documents and objects can give them a very real sense of what it was like to be alive during a long-past era.
Library of Congress The LOC Web site offers more than 16 million digitized items, many of which are primary sources. Primary sources are the raw materials of history—original documents and objects created at the time under study, such as photographs, maps, prints, manuscripts, sound recordings, and motion pictures. Primary sources offer unique learning opportunities for students of all levels, interests and learning styles to connect with content and develop new understandings.
What are primary resources?
Primary sources are the evidence left behind by participants or observers.
Secondary sources are works that interpret or analyze an historical event. Examples of secondary sources include textbooks and encyclopedias.
Importance of Primary Sources
From the Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/whyuse.htmlWhy Use Primary Sources?
Primary sources provide a window into the past—unfiltered access to the record of artistic, social, scientific and political thought and achievement during the specific period under study, produced by people who lived during that period.
Bringing young people into close contact with these unique, often profoundly personal, documents and objects can give them a very real sense of what it was like to be alive during a long-past era.
Student Primary Source Guide from Blackburn
Where do I find primary resources?
Library of Congress
The LOC Web site offers more than 16 million digitized items, many of which are primary sources. Primary sources are the raw materials of history—original documents and objects created at the time under study, such as photographs, maps, prints, manuscripts, sound recordings, and motion pictures. Primary sources offer unique learning opportunities for students of all levels, interests and learning styles to connect with content and develop new understandings.
Historical Newspapers 1836 - 1922
National History Day List of Primary Sources
Authentic History - Popular Culture
Pennsylvania Digitized Newspapers
National Archives
Depression Era Color Photos
Digital Collections at the State Library of PA
**Old Time Radio Shows - You Are There**
Public Domain Sherpa: Finding and Using Public Domain Photographs
Exhibitions A-Z from LOC
Guides to analyzing materials
How to analyze oral histories
How do I cite sources?
The Library of Congress maintains a website with information for MLA citation.MLA citation style requires the source’s digital ID and URL.
Here is the link:
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/mla.html
This website from Purdue University is good to use.
**Purdue Online Writing Lab**
Need more help?
LOC's Ask a Librarian
Teacher's Page at the LOC
Interactive Lesson from America's History in the Making
CalUTPS